Thursday, July 25, 2013

Missing a couple weeks - sorry!! But trying to get back to blogging, it's been a tough few weeks since the race in Litchfield and I had my parents up to visit so I fell back on my HIIT interval workouts on 7/16 and 7/23 combining jump rope or other power moves with lifting. But the week before the race we did this killer workout!!

I took a rest day Monday and then on Tuesday did ZCut #4

I started the week with ZCut What you need: two sets of weight- I had 8's and 12's, bench and a matWarm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats
and Lunges (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.

Post Race Workouts
The next week was the week after the race. I stayed at home to visit with my parents. So I took Monday off and iced a sore glute.

Then Tuesday I did bootcamp HIIT intervals and at night I did the Party With Purpose 5K race in Hoboken. I took it easy and really enjoyed it. I ran it with some good friends and it was a lot of fun and we got to have frozen yogurt afterwards

Super Hot 5k in Hoboken, but awesome views of NYC!!

Wed - Spin/Swim and Thursday - Outdoor Sports Barre with Local Barre (Such a disappointment NBC Weather was there filming and I was asked to be interviewed by the police made the truck move and ruined my chances).

I was shocked at how many calories I burned, normally it's about 200-250 but I guess with the heat and biking home I burned a ton.

Friday I did Spin and Swam and then drove up to the Catskills to visit the old better half. I had quite a time getting up there, a train turned over so I had to subway, bus and train it to Poughkeepsie then get a ride to the Catskills.

Post spin smoothie, banana strawberry.

We rode 27 miles on Saturday and Sunday we did 10 miles.
However, now I need to get back on a diet because we ate everything in
the Catskills, they had delicious cream soda and root beer.

Delicious soda and food while we were up there.

The B&B we stayed at the Catskill Maison, which had great food and absolutely gorgeous bedrooms. And great places to ride nearby.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

On Sunday, July 14th, my friends and I did the Litchfield Olympic Triathlon. For me, the Olympic triathlon has proved troubling. I have had trouble with Olympic distance for the past few years, this was my third and failed attempt. The first one, I got 2 flat tires and fell on the bike and in Round 2 I made a wrong turn on the run. I felt terrible after the experience but I found a blog from a fellow who did not finish after training for the Ironman and his disappointment and story of picking himself up afterwards was very inspiring. I was very glad to be there at the end of the race to see my better half finish the Duathlon and he did an amazing job. I also got to see my good friend Jen finish and she did great.

This year, I will admit I did not trained properly. I was so focused on getting through the half in June after being sick for most of May that I did not put in the proper training effort. I also have not been swimming as much as I should have. So right there, 2 things to work on. However, one positive, we got to make use of the brand new 4 bike hitch and bike rack on the back of our car!

Brand New bike rack!

Race Recap
I started off the swim great, I was only a few seconds off from last year, so I was pleasantly surprised. 31:36 for a mile.

In T1 I was 2 minutes faster than last year, which was great considering it's a .25 mile run uphill after the swim on a rocky path back to transition.

On the bike I got started strong down the screaming downhill and started a good pace. Unfortunately, things headed downhill from there. My odometer wasn't working so I started focusing on that instead of riding and then at some point in the first 5 miles I developed a searing pain in my glute. I know a pain in my ass and OMG was it. I felt like couldn't peddle, it hurt to sit in the saddle, I couldn't stretch it out. By the time we got to the uphill side of the ride I wanted to cry. I also wanted to get off my bike, throw it in a ditch and beat it with a baseball bat. Needless to say, it was some pain. I made it up Bruning Hill which is a final 2 mile uphill and the last push to transition and started to get off and wanted to see if I could run. I was already limping along and mentally I had given up. The 6.2 mile run just seemed too far, I felt like too bad of a runner to finish it, and I wanted to sit in an ice bucket. So for the first time ever, I gave up. I spoke to the medic and he advised turning in my chip and sitting in ice. So, I turned in my chip and got an ice pack and waited for my pals to finish.

Fortunately, I have a fantastic boyfriend and friends who were encouraging. The race kicked off the week of heat and humidity and we dealt with some serious heat and humidity during the race. Afterwards, we went home and sat in a cold pool. It was seriously wonderful. My boyfriend even offered to share his medal with me, he said I could have the swim image since technically he never swam during the race.

I think the Litchfield Hills Course is gorgeous, but it has beaten me, abd I think if we tackle it again next year, the better half and I may tackle it as a team. But, I will not give up on the Olympic distance....yet. However, that means putting in the training and setting goals.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

I had missed a week of posting the Zcut Cardio Workouts and wanted to make sure I got this one in. It was rough. It was the week after I had done the Fairfield marathon and the kickoff of NYC's heat wave. That week I did not do much running. I did some light running Thurs, Friday and then on Saturday we went for a longer (5 mile) run.

This workout was AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

What you need: two sets of weight- I had 8's and 12's, bench and a matWarm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats
and Lunges (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.

Section 1 - 10 minutes
10 lateral burpees - jump over the step push up then jump back over, you could also jump over your mat or walk over the step. I had to take breaks since my legs were screaming from the run.
20 crab toe touches
10 ab splitters
10 mt climbers, 10 jacks on the step
20 lunge jumps

This one was HARD!!! I thought I was going to lose it afterwards. I practically fell in the pool for my swim. Wed was a spin day, and so was Friday and Sunday we went for a bike ride in the most humid weather I've ever seen up to the Cloisters, which were beautiful. Then we rode down through Central Park and back down the West Side Highway, it was about 23 miles total. I wanted to do a little more but someone was starving!

View from the bikes.

That weekend also happened to be pride so we had this great view.

Not our picture. I borrowed it from WIO but we could see this from our building.

That night I made this incredible pasta from Ina Garten, which was cheesey and delicious. It's called midnight spaghetti and included parsley from our local farmer's market, which we went to on Saturday and bought all sorts of veggies and fish.

Friday, July 12, 2013

It's been a few weeks since I posted because last week was July 4th! And what should have been a super slow week turned into a crazy week! I decided to take a break from Zuzka Light for a week and go with the daily hiit workouts! If you go to workouts you can see a list of all their workouts and they are completely free!

Weekly Workouts - July 1 to 7
Monday - REST I am loving Monday as my REST Day
Tuesday - Daily HIIT workout and swimming (See below for workout)
Wednesday - Spinning
Thursday - 4+ mile run for July 4th in the heat even at 9am!
Friday - 3 mile run, class at Local Barre and Yoga Up at 6am to avoid the heat!
Saturday - Brick Workout (16 mile bike and 2.5 mile run) and Stand Up Paddle Boarding. up at 5am to drive to LI and avoid the heat!
Sunday - 16 mile bike ride in hilly Jersey - HOT!

Over the holiday, we definitely treated ourselves, we did a lot of grilling good chicken and fish and veggies at home but we did a lot of treats as well.

On Thursday after a run in the sweltering heat and humidity that is Hoboken we enjoyed a beverage at the Biergarten.

Then we watched the fireworks that night from our balcony. We made chicken burgers, portabello mushrooms, corn on the grill and an assortment of veggies.

On Friday I worked from home in the morning and got to enjoy my flowers.

I made this watermelon mojito from a recipe on Saturday after our brick workout along with a sweet and savory bbq sauce and it was delicious.

Daily HIIT What you need: two sets of weight- I had 8's and 12's, bench and a matWarm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats
and Lunges (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.

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About Me

Young nonprofit pro,saving the world a charity at a time. I'm AFAA & Spin cert'd and a foodie. I have 2 blogs. Pasta & Powersquats for fitness and foodie finds, inc spinning profiles (I love theme) and workouts from SkyClub where I teach. A weekend warrior, I attempt triathlons and half marathons and I look forward to sharing my triumphs and tribulations. I'm trying to lead a healthy lifestyle so I'll share my recipe finds. On Hoboken Gal Helps: I fell in love with nonprofit work after working at the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and haven't looked back. That was 2004 and since I've developed a 'jack of all trades' approach that includes grant writing, fundraising, event planning, individual giving, public relations and social media. I am currently working in NYC and volunteering at the Hoboken Homeless Shelter, a great local organization. Feel free to contact me at karomans@gmail.com. I live in 'boken with my better half and can be found running pier A and getting a refill at Empire before meetings.